MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Supernatural Comedy Horror/Stars: Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Adrian Martinez, Brandon Scott Jones, Jenna Kanell, Bess Rous, James Moses Black, Caroline Williams, Miles Doleac/Runtime: 93 minutes

I think it is fairly safe to say dear reader that if you asked the majority of people who the most iconic member of that distinct community known as vampires in the realm of pop culture was, it would not surprise me in even the least to hear them say the name “Count Dracula” (sorry Twilight fans, but a pasty and moody guy who sparkles in the sun does not maketh one a vampire). Perhaps this is why we have seen such brilliant members of the acting community from Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee to Frank Langella and Gary Oldman respectively decide to put their own distinct spins on this iconic monster and in so doing send chills down the spines of movie goers for generations. Yet for all the love that the ol’ fangster gets there is someone else tied to his legacy that has largely been overlooked by most interpretations of this timeless story and even by the avid lovers of the story to an extent as well. I am of course talking about Drac’s quite devoted aid in his nefarious schemes, one R.M. Renfield. However, what if dear reader, this most devoted aid suddenly got tired of the Count, his seemingly never-ending grocery list of demands, and (of course) all the visceral death and carnage that came with fulfilling those demands? To be more precise dear reader: what if the long in the shadows sidekick to one of the most famous villains of all time decided he wanted out of the aforementioned shadows and to have a life of his own and how exactly would the aforementioned villain take this desire? Well even though that is not a topic that any slice of cinema has attempted to cover before, I can now safely say that I have seen one that has in the shape and form of the new release I am reviewing for you today Renfield. Indeed here is a slice of cinema that in a less confident time (2017 for starters) would have just been another grim and serious stab at bringing forth the iconic Universal monsters of ol’ back for modern audiences. To be sure, there are movies that have been made from that mold which have worked incredibly well (2020’s The Invisible Man), this slice and dice of cinema is one which shows that making movies that are more vibrant and livelier can work just as well. You just have to be willing, just like in vampiric lore, to invite it in and give it the chance to work on you. To be sure, this slice of cinema is one that is more than slightly flawed, but I can also safely say that the work on both sides of the camera is certainly enough to make this one cinematic outing that has enough bite to check out at least once.

The plot is as follows: So this slice of cinema gets underway by assuming you are familiar with the story of Count Dracula. As in the nefarious blood-sucking vampire hailing from Transylvania who also decided to terrorize jolly ol’ London for a spell. With that being said though, this particular story isn’t about him. Rather, this is the story of Renfield. As in the (arguably) tragic person who is not quite Drac’s sidekick, but also not quite his servant either and who he also gifted (or doomed) with his flair for eternal life to an extent. At any rate, we see that whilst Dracula has no qualms about chowing down on as many unsuspecting humans as he can, though in this modern era he does have a fondness for buses full of cheerleaders and nuns apparently, and gaining superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and being able to change into a bat among other things….Renfield gets incredible Mortal Kombat-level fight skills from eating bugs. Yet for as “stable” as this relationship between the two seems to be, we soon see things take a turn when shortly after moving into a new home which takes the form of a damp and rundown building in New Orleans our titular protagonist, whilst on an assignment for the Count, finds himself infiltrating a support group for people in unhealthy relationships only to inexplicably identify with the people in the group. We soon see that it starts to dawn on our hero that perhaps he can make his life better by actually trying to help people rather than make them Drac’s dinner. To that end, we see Renfield decide to start by confronting the abusive boyfriend of one of the other support group members. Unfortunately for our hero, the time he goes to confront the guy is also the exact moment he winds up smack dab in the middle of a gun battle with one group of participants being the city’s most ruthless crime family known as the Wolfs. It is also here where we see him cross paths with a genuinely good cop by the name of Rebecca who has desperately been trying to shut the Wolfs down for good. To that end, we see that after saving her life it surprises him to learn that she views him as a hero, but it surprises him even more that not only does he like her, but that he also starts to view himself as a hero and keep feeling like that as well. Unfortunately, for Renfield we see that Dracula isn’t really onboard with his desire to escape his grasp and make a new life for himself let alone be viewed as a good guy. Rather, he just wants Renfield to continue to serve him and his needs without question and with nary a care in the world as to how this affects poor ol’ Ren….oh and to take over the world. You know: the usual. Thus can our hero find the courage to stand up for himself against Drac or is this one situation where Renfield might have finally bit off more than he could chew? That I will let you discover…..

Now right off the bat (pun intended), I should say that the work done behind the camera on this slice of cinema is good, but it also could’ve used a bit more bite as well. This starts with the fact that the movie’s tech department does have more than its fair share of hiccups including that there are quite a few moments in this where the special effects on display give off the vibe of being shoddy at worst and hackneyed at best. Making things even more headache inducing is the fact that this slice of cinema also contains a group of edits that obviously are deployed where they are so as to aid the movie in covering up some places where the low budget (by mainstream Hollywood standards at any rate) might have caused the filmmaking team to make some compromises. Perhaps the biggest dilemma in terms of the work done behind the camera though is the fact that this slice of cinema’s script is so flimsy at times that it doesn’t ever make a persuasive enough case for why exactly the side character of Renfield should be the main character here in this movie. To be sure, a fair bit of that problem can be attributed to the potent job by the actor playing Dracula in this, but even with that in mind the fact is that the film never once justifies its core narrative decision thus making you consistently wonder why they didn’t just tinker with the narrative, stretch out the runtime, and make this another Dracula movie instead. Those particular flaws with the work from behind the camera aside, there is also no denying that a fair majority of this slice and dice of cinema does manage to have a fair degree of both style and assertiveness to spare. Indeed not only are there quite a few tiny comedic moments that do manage to work quite well, but it should also be pointed out that, even with all the blood being spilt and bodies starting to line up in this, not only does the crew do a grand job of making the viscerality in this the kind that is intentionally exaggerated, but a fair amount of the deaths in this also have a fair bit of a comedy factor to them as well. Finally, it should also be pointed out that not only does film helmer Chris McKay do a fairly good job at the helm, but that he, along with the production design team, do manage to do a terrific job at really making this slice of cinema look and feel much like a comedy-tinged modern day updating of the Dracula mythos right down to giving the ol’ Count a throne made up of (I kid you not) blood bags from the local hospital. Suffice it to say therefore that there are issues to be found with the work done behind the camera on this, but there are also positives to make note of as well.

With that in mind, I should point out that the work done by this slice and dice of cinema’s cast in front of the camera is good, but trust me when I say that there is one who (dare I say) lords over the rest. To be sure, it’s not Nicholas Hoult in the titular role. In the name of fairness, it should be said that I do think Nicholas Hoult is a terrific actor with his work in last year’s The Menu, 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and as young Beast in the X-Men movies being proof of his undeniable talent. The problem is that Hoult is portraying a character who, in the original source material, is very much meant to be a side character (albeit an important one), and this slice and dice of cinema’s script doesn’t work as hard as it should at persuading me that I should be following this guy for pretty much the entirety of this movie’s 93-minute runtime. To put it another way: if Dracula was a T-bone steak and Renfield was a side of overcooked asparagus that came with the steak then that asparagus better have something terrific about it in order for people to give more attention to it than the steak. Yes Hoult does give it his all, but there is no denying that with a tighter script this could have been a genuinely great performance from a guy I know who is certainly more than capable of providing them. The same can also be said incidentally for Awkwafina in this. Yes her arc in this does feel a bit unnecessary, but Awkwafina still does a great job at making it work as well as she possibly can thanks to both her brilliant comedic skill and her attempts to make her character as three dimensional as she possibly can. With all of that in mind though, perhaps the one performance that you (undoubtedly) have come here to see is none other than Nic freaking Cage in the role of Dracula and you are probably wondering if it is engaging to see this iconic talent play a vampire for the first time since his highly underrated turn as one in 1988’s Vampire’s Kiss? Uhhhh absofreakinglutely dear reader. With that in mind though, you should know there is a distinct difference between the pair of films. That being that in the former, Cage portrayed a jerk of a human being who only thought he was turning into a member of the fang rockin’ and garlic loathing community. In this film though, he IS playing a vampire and none other than the legend himself Count Dracula complete with pasty skin, razor-sharp teeth, and slicked back hairstyle at that. With that in mind, major props should be given to both the make-up and costume departments for doing their part to ensure Cage is able to give a wild yet multilevel-style turn here that feels like a tribute to darn near every other cinematic take on this iconic character we have gotten so far. More than anything though, perhaps the thing that really sells this performance is Cage’s distinct Caginess. Indeed his performance here is not meant to be seen as Cage being campy. Rather, he sinks his fangs so to speak more so into the Count’s fixation on not just blood, but on his own inflated ego to say nothing of his belief that it is his right, however unholy, to live his undead life however he wants. Suffice it to say that, when also factoring in a wonderful sense of sarcasm, this truly is a witty, exquisite, and fairly flamboyant turn that sadly a lot of this slice of cinema at times simply isn’t able to match even a 1/8th of. Thus when you also factor in decent efforts from such talent as Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Brandon Scott Jones, Caroline Williams, and Shohreh Aghdashloo it’s clear that this cast of players is able to give this slice and dice of cinema the kind of performances it definitely needed.

All in all is Renfield a perfect slice and dice of cinema? Tragically no. At the same time though, is this the cinematic equivalent of exposing a vampire to sunlight and watching them burn to a crisp quicker than Texas BBQ on a hot summer day? Honestly no. If anything, I would say that this movie is a classic example of one that is “good, but given the take on the material and the cast involved boy could it have been a lot better!”. Indeed the work done behind the camera is certainly capable albeit flawed in a few areas and the work done by the talented cast in front of the camera is good no doubt about it, but even with that in mind it’s still the performances given by Hoult, Awkwafina, and (most assuredly) Cage that deserve most of the mention there as all three manage to contribute fairly good work at a minimum in their respective roles. Suffice it to say therefore dear reader that if you are looking for a movie that expertly blends together the genres of comedy and horror in such a way that you will find yourself as soon as its over wanting to see it again then might I recommend the 1981 horror-comedy classic An American Werewolf in London (hi David!) or even 2012’s The Cabin in the Woods? On the other hand, if you are looking for one that has a fair amount of visceral bite, laughs, and even a bit of heart to spare, but is one that you wouldn’t mind seeing at least once and then, every so often, watching on either a rainy day or whenever you are looking for something to kill a couple of hours then definitely check this one out dear reader. Suffice it to say that at the end of the day dear reader Renfield “2023” might not be the Count (or his long-suffering sidekick)’s finest cinematic hour, but there is still a fair amount of fang rockin’ viscerality and fun to be had here should you give this film the opportunity to work its magic on you. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Renfield “2023” a solid 3 out of 5.